VOLUME 5NUMBER 127FRI - SATMARCH 16 - 17, 2012

P 8.P 8.P 8.P 8.P 8.0000000000

BY JOEY PAVIA

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO –The Court of Appeals (CA)has affirmed an earlier

decision favoring the appointmentof Dr. Eddie Ponio as head ofPampanga’s provincial hospital.

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Panlilio’s petitionvs. Ponio denied

In a decision signed onFebruary 16 obtained onWednesday, the CA 10th

Division said “the instantPetition for Review is de-nied and Civil Service Com-mission (CSC) ResolutionNo. 09-0819 dated June 2,

2009 and CSC ResolutionNo. 09-1555 dated Nov.19, 2009 are hereby af-firmed.”

“Wherefore, the appealof Dr. Eddie G. Ponio, pro-vincial health officer I, Di-

NNNNNIIIII D D D D DINOINOINOINOINO B B B B BALABOALABOALABOALABOALABO

LUNGSOD NG MALOLOS – “Ito angpinakamagandang provincial hospital sabuong Pilipinas.”

Ang mga katagang ito ang namutawisa bibig ni Health Secretary Enrique Ona

Dagdag na pasilidad ng BMCpinasinayaan, Ona humanga

matapos pasinayaan ang mga bagongpasilidad ng Bulacan Medical Center(BMC) sa lungsod na ito noong Martes,Marso 13.

Dahil sa paghanga, ipinangako ngKalihim na bibigyan niya ng maka-

BY ARMAND M. GALANG

CABANATUAN CITY –National Bureau of Inves-tigation (NBI) agents ar-rested a female palay trad-er who allegedly duped anumber of grains dealers,supposedly amounting toabout P300-million.

Lawyer Manuel Di-

BY DING CERVANTES

ANGELES CITY – A militant alliance of fisherfolkwarned yesterday that Pres. Aquino’s popularity mightyet be replaced by appeals for his resignation amidhis alleged lack of action to curtail continuing fuel priceincreases.

“Filipinos fed up with weekly hikes in the prices ofpetroleum products may soon demand the resigna-tion of Pres. Aquino unless Malacañang does some-thing decisive to stop oil companies from imposingfuel cost hikes,” the alliance Pambansang Lakas ngKilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya)said in a press statement.

The group said the President in now “facing a makeor break situation.”

Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap urged

ANGELES CITY – TheAlyansa ng Mang-gagawang Bukid saAsyenda Luisita

(Ambala) said yes-terday that the militaryhas admitted that Haci-enda Luisita is coveredby the government’sOplan Bayanihan whichthey claimed, was anadmission of militariza-tion in the estate al-ready awarded to ten-ants by the SupremeCourt but is still beingcontested by Pres.Aquino’s family.

This, even as haci-enda farmer leadersclaimed that personsidentified with the Pres-ident’s family, whichused to control the es-tate since 1947, havebeen “coercing” baran-gay chairpersons in thehacienda to sign docu-ments supporting mili-tary presence in theirmidst.

In a statement, Am-bala and its mother or-ganization Alyansa ngmga Magbubukid saGitnang Luson (AMGL)cited Lt. Col. Ernesto C.Torres Jr., commanderof the 3rd MechanizedInfantry Battalion, asadmitting Hacienda Lu-

‘OplanBayanihan’

proof ofmilitarization

HACIENDA LUISITAWORKERS SAY

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‘Fuel price hikescan reverse

PNoy’s popularity’

Rice trader arrestedfor multi-million

unpaid transactionsmaano, chief of the NBIfield office, said Lilian Cer-rudo of Barangay Malasin,San Jose City, was arrest-ed from her residence onthe strength of a warrantof arrest for criminal caseno. 2105-11-SJC issuedby Judge Cynthia Floren-do of San Jose City Re-

PAGE 6 PLEASE

CHILDREN’S PROTECTION. Gov. Lilia “Nanay Baby” Pineda delivers a speech during the launchof the Child Abuse Protection Intervention Network attended by thousands of participantsrecently at the Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center in the City of San Fernando. Pineda wants toensure that children in the province are protected from abuses.

PHOTO BY COURTESY OF JUN JASO, PAMPANGA PIO

Sila ang nag-gagandahang nurses sa Bulacan Medical Center. Ayonkay Health Secretary Enrique Ona, ang BMC ang pinakamagandangospital sa buong bansa na nasa ilalim ng pamamahala ng pamahalaangpanlalawigan. KUHA NI DINO BALABO

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gional Trial Court at about5 p.m. Monday.

Dimaano said a com-plainant, identified as Elm-er Villaroman, of San JoseCity sought the help of NBIupon learning that the sus-pect was in her residence.

“We proceeded to thehouse of Cerrudo and ef-

Rice trader arrested for multi-million...FROM PAGE 1 fected the warrant,” Di-

maano said.He said his team also

arrested a certain Isabeli-ta Baguio, caretaker ofCerrudo’s house, for herobstruction of justice un-der Presidential Decree1829 after she allegedlyrefused to allow them tosearch her house.

“Despite exhaustive

and diplomatic means topersuade her to open thehouse, they failed and re-fused to comply,” he said,leaving them no option butto search the wholehouse.

He said follow up in-vestigation showed thatCerrudo had six warrantsof arrest from RTC Branch39 in San Jose City and

several others from differ-ent courts.

Dimaano said Cerrudowould get multi-millionworth of palay from sever-al traders in San Jose Cityand adjoining areas onagreement that these willbe paid in three months.However, the suspect al-legedly failed to pay thetraders.

BY JOEY PAVIA

STA. RITA, Pampanga –The newly-installed townpolice chief here scoredagainst the notorious“Akyat-bahay” gang, ar-resting two suspects at apolice checkpoint inbarangay Dila-Dila onWednesday.

2 Akyat-bahay members nabbedSenior Insp. Michael

Masangkay, town policechief, identified the sus-pects as JV De JesusChua, 41, and Alberto Men-doza La Torre, 30, both ofNorthville, Cutud, AngelesCity. They were arrestedafter allegedly stealing atleast P150,000 worth ofjewelry and gadgets in a

house in nearby PulongSanto, Porac, Pampanga.

Masangkay said thesuspects refused to stopin a police checkpoint inBarangay Becuran, here.But they were stopped inDila-Dila.

Police investigatorssaid the victims have iden-tified the suspects.

Masangkay said thestolen items, includingToshiba laptop, NikonCamera and Sony Ericsoncellphone, were found inthe possession of Chuaand La Torre.

Masangkay said theyturned over the recovereditems to the Porac policestation.

HOLIDAY INN Clark in-vites you to experience themost authentic Thai cui-sine at Mequenio Restau-rant from March 16 – 31,2012

Chef Yel, an expert inThai cuisine will be reveal-ing his closely-held foodsecrets here. An array ofpopular Thai dishes will beserved to expereince thesumptuous flavors of Thai-land that will leave youmermerized.

Born in Pampanga,Philippines in 1979, IsraelTayag Cunan of Chef Yelbegan his affection withfood in the most influentialof all kitchens; his family’.Although he was forbiddento book or assist until hehad grown tall as his sis-ter 10 years his seniors,Yel’s cooking skills wereinnate. Watching andhelping his parents andsisters passionately pre-pare dishes for family oc-casions and gatheringsplanted the seeds for hiskeen interest in culinaryarts.

Chef Yel has since tak-en numerous classes at

A taste of Thailandat Holiday Inn Clark

SAVE THE EARTH, PLANT A TREE. Mayor Edgardo Pamintuan joins his batchmates, Holy AngelUniversity Class of 1965 (KA VIBES) during a recent bamboo-planting activity along theembankments of the Abacan River. This is in support to the Angeles City Government’s OneMillion Tree Project. PHOTO COURTESY OF ANGELES CIO

BY ERNIE B. ESCONDE

BAGAC, Bataan – The De La Salle University in Ma-nila has chosen this town as its pilot municipality indisaster preparedness for possible earthquake, tsu-nami and fire.

It held simulated drills on Wednesday in coordi-nation with different agencies as a dry run.

Assisting DLSU in the project is the MunicipalDisaster Risk, Reduction Management Council ofBagac with the cooperation of the Municipal PoliceStation, Bureau of fire Prevention, Medicare Commu-nity Hospital, Sangguniang Kabataan, PDRRMC andresidents of Barangay Pag-asa, a seaside village here.

Maria Isabel Lanada of DLSU’s Center for SocialConcern said they have institutionalized disasterreadiness in this town since 2010.

“We have selected the town being adjacent to theWest Philippine Sea and barangay Pag-asa had ex-perienced tsunami sometimes in the 1970s,” shesaid.

“Dapat handang-handa in times of disaster,” Lan-ada said.

Johnny Mandocdoc of the Bagac MDRRMC saiddisasters like tsunami have struck Mindanao and partof the Visayas and they are afraid that Luzon will benext so they wanted their residents to be prepared.

He said they chose Pag-asa as launching pad ofthe project being the most-disaster prone Barangayin this town.

Bagac Mayor Ramildel Rosario said that earth-quake and tsunami strike like a thief that no one ex-actly knows when it will come. “It is good that wehave drills like these to acquaint the villagers of whatto do,”he said.

The 400-meter stretch of the road from Pag-asato the Bagac Elementary School became a virtualdrill site for villagers rushing to higher ground to es-cape tsunami from the West Philippine Sea.

Before the tsunami exercise, villagers were briefedon what to do in cases of fire and earthquake byprovincial and municipal officers of the BFP. Demon-strations were made on how to put off fire caused byfuel oil with the use of fire extinguisher and sand.

BFP personnel also showed how to carry injuredpersons from fire and earthquake incidents.Also onhow to roll on the ground when one’s clothes arecaught on fire.

DLSU picksBagac as pilot

town in disasterpreparedness

the renowned Blue Ele-phant Bangkok CulinarySchool and Restaurant inThailand, read countlessculinary books.

Thai cuisine is quitepopular and renowned forits artistic style of cook-ing with careful attention tothe taste, look, and theholistic presentation ofdish. Thai Food is herbaland the use of exoticknowledge learnt from theancient time is still use inits cooking techniques.

For only Php1, 300 netfor lunch and dinner, savorsignature Thai dishes in-cluding, Tom Yum Talay(Seafood soup), Pad ThaiNoodle, Koong-sam-rod,(Steamed prawns wiyhdeeping sauce), Thai Fishcake and ruam mit (Thaihalo-halo) and a lot more.

Holiday Inn Clark is lo-cated at Mimosa Drive,Mimosa Leisure Estate,which is inside the ClarkFreeport Zone a fast devel-oping business and leisurehub. To make a reserva-tion, please call 02-8451888 or 045 599 8000 orvisit www.holiday-inn.com.

AFTER completing their two-weektraining on furniture upholstery, 25out of the 28 out-of-school youthsfrom different towns and city of Pam-panga were hired by local furniturefactories.

“Marami pa tayong pagsasanayna dapat gawin para sa ating mgakabataang hindi nag-aaral paramagkaroon sila ng hanapbuhay atmaging kapaki-pakinabang sa ka-nilang mga pamilya at pamayanan,”Gov. Lilia Pineda told program im-plementers and the graduates dur-ing the turn-over ceremonies held atBenigno Aquino Memorial Hall at theCapitol compound. The Pampangaprovincial government and theChamber of Furniture Industry of thePhilippines-Pampanga chapter(CFIPP) spearheaded the program.

The Provincial Manpower Train-ing Center headed by FrancisMaslog, Public Employment Servic-es Office of Luningning Vergara andCFIPP with the support and assis-tance of Don Honorio Ventura Tech-nological State University (DHVTSU)and the Department of Science andTechnology (DOST) conducted the

AFTER COMPLETING FURNITURE TRAINING

28 out-of-school youths find jobsfurniture upholstery training programin two separate venues – first at theDHVTSU and later at the FurnitureCity in Mabalacat town.

The governor thanked Philip Re-pata and Guagua Councilor Antho-ny Joseph Torres, president andvice-president respectively of CFIPP,for their support to the training pro-gram which she hopes would be thestart of more similar undertakingsfor out-of-school-youths in the prov-ince.

Pineda said that the project wasconceptualized last year to addressthe inadequate manpower resourc-es of the local furniture industry andat the same time provide livelihoodopportunities to out-of-school youths(OSYs).

The provincial government allot-ted P300,000 for the supplies andmaterials in the training which in-cluded actual hands-on of the par-ticipants in furniture upholstery.

As she inspected their finishedproducts of upholstered sofa andchairs which were put on display atthe venue, the governor congratulat-ed the participants for producing

quality products and encouragedthem to do better.

“We could also conduct a simi-lar training program on carpentry forOSYs so that they could be tappedin the actual production of the pro-vincial capitol’s purchase order for10,000 school desks,” the governorsaid adding that the provision ofskills trainings to OSYs and othermarginalized sectors is one of thepriorities of her administration.

She revealed that she had initialtalks with the management of SMMalls on the possibility of showcas-ing Pampanga-made furniture intheir various outlets throughout thecountry.

Board Members Fritzie David-Dizon, Trina Dizon and Raul Macali-no together with Provincial Admin-istrator Atty. Andres S. Pangilinan,Jr., Engr. Fernando Henson of Plan-ning and Development Office(PPDO) and Luis Rivera of HumanResource and Management Office(HRMO) witnessed the turn-overceremonies.

– Erlinda T. Yutuc,Pampanga PIO

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NI DINO BALABO

LUNGSOD NG MALOLOS – Handa naang Manila North Tollways Corporation(MNTC) para pasinayaan ang BalagtasInterchange sa Bulacan sa Marso 20.

Ang pagbubukas ng interchange ayinaasahang magpapaluwag ng daloy ngtrapiko sa Sta. Rita toll plaza sa NorthLuzon Expressway (NLEX); at higit namagpapaunlad sa mga bayan sa silan-gan ng Bulacan at Gitnang Luzon.

Ito ay dahil sa ang Balagtas Inter-change ay magsisilbing panibagong daanpara sa mga sasakyang nagmumula atnagtutungo sa silangang Gitna at Hila-gang Luzon, at dumadaan sa 84-kilomet-rong NLEX.

Ayon kay Marlene Ochoa, ang vicepresident for corporate communicationsng MNTC, ang Balagtas interchange aybahagi lamang ng 6-kilomentrong Plar-idel bypass road project.

Ang Plaridel by-pass road project aybahagi naman ng 24-kilometrong arterialroad project na pinangunahan ng Depart-ment of Public Works and Highways(DPWH).

Ang nasabing 24-kilometer arterialroad project ay mag-uugnay sa NLEX saBarangay Maasim, San RafaelBulacan. Ito ay pinondohan ng Malakan-yang ng halagang P3 bilyon.

Balagtas Interchange pasisinayaan ng MNTCHindi pa natatapos ang kabuuan ang

arterial road project, sa halip ay anim nakilometro pa lamang ang natatapos.

Gayunpaman, sinabi ni Mayor LornaSilverio ng San Rafael na kasalukuyangtinutukoy ng DPWH ang mga lotengdadaanan ng proyekto sa bayan ng SanRafael.

“Baka in two years matapos na iyan,kaya bibilis ang biyahe from San Rafaelto Quezon City; mga 30 minutes na lang,”ani Silverio.

Iginiit din niya na ang proyekto ay higitna magpapaunlad sa kalakalan sa ka-niayng bayan at mga kalapit na bayan.

Noong nakaraang taon, sinabi ni Sil-verio, umabot sa P500-milyon ang kab-uuang puhunan na ibinuhos ng mga nego-syante sa San Rafael.

Hinggil pa rin sa konstruksyon ng ar-terial road project sa kanyang bayan, sin-abi ng alkalde na nagpahayag ng interesang MNTC na pondohan ito.

Inayunan naman ito ni Rodrigo Fran-

co, ang pangulo at CEO ng MNTC.Ayon kay Franco, kung papaya ang

Malakanyang, nakahanda ang MNTC napondohan ang konstruksyon ng nalalab-ing bahagi ng arterial road project.

Matatandaan na ang nasabig proyek-to ay pinondohan ng P3-bilyon ng admin-istrasyong Arroyo may tatlong taon naang nakakaraan.

Ito ay sa pagsisikap ni Silverio nanoo’y nagsisilbing kongresista ng ikat-long distrito ng Bulacan.

Ito ang Balagtas Interchange na nakatakdang pasinayaan ng Manila North Tollways Corporation sa Marso 20. Ginugulan ito ng MNTC ng halagangP100-milyon. Ang larawang ito ay kuha noong Abril 30, 2011. KUHA NI DINO BALABO

NI JOHNNY R. REBLANDO

LUNGSOD NG OLONGAPO – Dinak-ip ng mga tauhan Zambales CriminalInvestigation and Detection Team(ZCIDT) ang dalawa katao na iligal nanagbibiyahe ng mga forest products(uling) sa lalawigan ng Zambales.

Kinilala ni Chief Inspector VirgilioRubio, ZCIDT provincial director, angmga suspek na sina Romeo Calma,55-anyos, residente ng Purok 2, Tipo,Hermosa, Bataan at Jesus Dela Cruz,

OPLAN KALIKASAN

2 huli sa iligal na pagbibiyahe ng uling35-anyos ng Maycaban, Nueva Ecija.

Ang pagkakasakote sa mga suspekay batay sa pinaigting na kampanyang ZCIDT na “Oplan Kalikasan”’.

Ang mga nasabing uling ay sakaysa isang Izuzu Elf truck na may pla-kang WKL-464 na minamaneho ni Cal-ma.

Batay sa imbestigasyon ng pulisya,ang mga uling ay nagmula sa San An-tonio, Zambales at nakatakda itong i-deliver sa Pampanga nang ito ay ma-sabat ng ZCIDT sa tulong ng Zambales

Highway Patrol Team (PHPT).Wala din maipakitang mga doku-

mento ang mga suspek na nagpapa-tunay na iligal ang kanilang mga kar-gamento.

Narekober ng pulisya ang may 100sako ng uling na nagkakahalaga ngP12,000.

Ang mga nakumpiskang uling aynasa pangangalaga na ng ZCIDT atnaka takda itong i-turn over sa Depart-ment of Environment and Natural Re-sources o DENR.

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Zona LibreBong Z. Lacson

E d i t o r i a l

acaesar.blogspot.com

Business & Editorial office at Unit B Essel Commercial Center,McArthur Highway, Telabastagan, City of San Fernando

Tel. No. (45) 636•6327 Cel. No. 0917•481•1416puntogitnangluzon@yahoo.com or marketing@punto.com.ph

http://www.punto.com.phPunto! Central Luzon is a proud member ofThe Philippine Press Institute

LLL Trimedia CoordinatorsPublisher

EDGAR V. MOVIDOFounder

General ManagerEditor

Editorial ConsultantMarketing ManagerAdvertising Officer

LayoutCirculation

Atty. Gener C. EndonaJoey R. AguilarCaesar “Bong” LacsonJoanna Niña V. CorderoKarl Jason S. ManalotoDondie B. VenturaGilbert Mendoza/Jojo Manalo

Kimosa rules!BANNERED IN this paper last March 7: Mimosa members assailCDC for ‘illegal’ contract, with the bullet Hordes of Koreantourists ‘devastate’ golf course, running thus:

CLARK FREEPORT – “Illegal, inimical and prejudicial not onlyto the interest of the general membership but of the Mimosa LeisureEstate itself.”

Thus said lawyer Leonor L. Infante, president of the Membersof the Mimosa Golf and Country Club Association, Inc. (MMGCCAI),of the memorandum of agreement (MOA) between the ClarkDevelopment Corp. (CDC) and the High Society Leisure andDevelopment Corp. which allows Korean tourists, “even non-golfers,to enter and enjoy the privileges of a regular member” of the Mimosagolf course…

Infante said despite the failure of High Society Leisure to complywith basic terms and conditions, CDC signed the MOA on July 29,2011 and ordered its immediate implementation.

Foremost among these “infirmities,” Infantesaid, was the non-payment of High Society Leisureof the guaranteed deposit of P18 million payabaleupon the signing of the MOA.

The violation would have voided the MOA,Infante opined, but instead the CDC even gaveHigh Society Leisure an extension of 30 days andgranted its operations in the Mimosa golf coursesduring that period.

“Ginigisa tayo sa sarili nating mantika (we arebeing fried in our own lard),” said Infante.

At the end of the extended period, HighSociety Leisure “merely paid” P3 millionguaranteed deposit – much less than the P18million stipulated in the MOA – but was acceptedby the CDC.

Trampled rightsInfante said the MOA “trampled” the rights and

privileges of the MMGCCAI, as it opened theMimosa courses to “hordes of Korean tourists”and even gave them priority over the members.

Totally disregarded, Infante said, was the“exclusive use strictly” by regular members of theLakeview-Acacia courses…

“We are not against the increase of touristshere, Koreans or whatever nationalities. What weare after is the protection of the rights of themembers and the preservation of the course itself,”she added.

Dick Clark, MMGCCAI vice president internalaffairs, lamented the “depths to which the onceworld-class, five-star course has deteriorated.”

Embarrassment“In the early days of Mimosa, it gave us much

pride to play the course, even greater pride tobring in players. Why, Tiger Woods even playedhere,” Clark remembered. “Today, it is utterembarrassment to bring in players.”

“Since CDC took over from (Antonio) Gonzales,it has been continuously downhill,” he added….

Milking cow“They milk (Mimosa) of as much profit (as they

can) but none of it comes back to the course,”Clark claimed…

SO WHAT else is new? But a year ago, in ourMarch 25 issue to be exact, this corner wastalking of virtually the same thing, even as itreprinted a June 2006 column in a now defunctpaper which also talked of the same thing.

Call it déjà vu, call it the eternal turn of a mostvicious cycle. In a rut, Mimosa is seeminglydamned.

AT THE Mimosa Golf and Country Club, the

members remain in the priority list over visitors,particularly Korean tourists.

So an official of the Clark DevelopmentCorporation (CDC) has clarified in the wake of areported recent “confrontation” where thelegitimate Mimosa members complained ofdiscrimination in their own turf, of the club allegedlyfavoring Korean guests over them.

So what else is new?In the June 15-21, 2006 issue of the now

defunct Pampanga News, I wrote in my Free Zonecolumn:

Prejudicial prideKIMOSA. The playful pun says it all.The invasion of the Mimosa Golf and Country

Club by hordes upon hordes of Korean tourists –from south of the 38th Parallel we all presume –that began with the first flights of Aseana Airlinesto Clark is finally over.

About to begin is the occupation of the MimosaGolf and Country Club by citizens of the Land ofthe Morning Calm, NTM Jin Hung having won thebidding for Senor Don Jose Antonio Gonzales’

bank-pawned, CDC-sequestered crown jewels.Ay caramba! Isn’t there an appeal of the

Castillian to recoup his estate now pending beforethe Supreme Court? What if he wins? No, he won’twin?

Madre de Dios! The CDC Board of Directorshas a gift of prophecy, manifest in their awardingMimosa to NTM Jin Hung. That Antonio Ng andcompany did not even bother to wait it out showsthat they are most certain that there is no sliverof a chance for the Don to reacquire his onceenchanted fiefdom.

Sinverguenza! The paisano parian Antoniospiting the heredero Senor Don Antonio! Quepasa? Es verdad, malo esta nuevo orden delmundo.

Indeed, a new world order obtains at Mimosa,again Kimosa, to be more apt.

The lamentations of the Mimosa memberssuffering discrimination – more economic thanracial – in their very own turf can make a case forviolations of human rights.

A golfer who looks like Mabalacat Vice MayorCrisostomo Garbo complains of being deprivedthe services of his favorite caddy girl. Why? Shehas reserved herself for Korean golfers. Howcome? A sober Ninoy Aquino makes a bogey to asmiling Benjamin Franklin on any day at the green.Yes, Garbito, Koreans tip in dollars not in won.As if you did not now.

Ah, this you know, as well as that other guywho is a spitting image of Bernie Cruz. Thecommon request at the caddy shack by Koreangolfers: “I want my caddy last night.” As I haveyet to hear of night games in any of the threecourses at Mimosa, I can only assume that thatreferred to a night-before short putt in a nineteenthhole. That is the caddy’s own, dummy.

Under CDC supervision, Mimosa has beenruled by Koreans. Rudely, claimed one local golferwhom I mistook for Tony Mamac. With NTM JinHung in full possession, greater discrimination at,if not a total shut out from the course is nobaseless apprehension among the locals.

Thus, the Indios Bravos to the rescue ofFilipino pride and honor. Senator Lito Lapid,Angeles Mayor Tarzan Lazatin and MabalacatMayor Boking Morales spearheading calls for aprobe of allegations of rigging in the Mimosa deal.

The alleged disqualification on meretechnicality – fifteen minutes late – of the otherbidder, Avenue Asia, an American firm reportedly,smacked of pre-bid preference for the Koreanbidder and prejudice against all others? The threeofficials believed so.

I don’t know how efficacious is Lapid’s proposalof a consortium of local businessmen-golfers tolease – not buy, for sheer lack of capital – Mimosafrom CDC. I don’t know how the local golfers willtake this.

What I do know, hearing it from a great numberof them, is that Mimosa has to be taken out ofthe hands of CDC to save it from further ruination.

“For five years, we have been advocating forthe privatization of Mimosa. This is to restore thecourse to its former glory as one of the best inthe Asia-Pacific region, where even the likes ofTiger Woods came to play,” Mamac, the presidentof Mimosa members, stressed.

He lamented the mismanagement of thecourse by CDC after it took over from Gonzalesowing to the latter’s financial woes with his creditorbanks and Pagcor.

“Mimosa served as CDC’s milking cow. Thesad thing is CDC did not take it to pasture, so tospeak, failing miserably to maintain, much moreupgrade it,” Mamac added.

PAGE 5 PLEASE

CIA soarsINTERNATIONAL PASSENGER volume at the ClarkInternational airport rose to 160,847 in the first twomonths of 2012, representing a 38 percent increaseover the same period last year.

The growth in passenger volume, ClarkInternational Airport Corporation President-CEOVictor Jose I. Luciano reported, resulted in the growthof CIAC’s gross revenue earnings, increasingcollections in January to P37.336 million or anincrease of 24 percent over January 2011 collectionsof P29.9 million. Revenues generated in Februarywere still being collated.

The domestic passenger volume at CIA isexpected to rise this year with Airphil express startingthis March 29 domestic flights to Cebu, PuertoPrincesa, Davao and Kalibo.

AirAsia Philippines, a subsidiary of Malaysia’s AirAsia Berhad, will also launch domestic flights fromits hub at CIA to Davao and Kalibo on March 28.

In May, South East Asian Airlines will likewiseservice Kalibo and start international flights from Clarkto Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia and daily flights toBangkok.

Good things happening at the CIA, there.Really, it’s not the name. It’s location, location,

location. Now, were CIA facilities and service furtherimproved…

Smart moveSUPERIOR VOICE connection and quality, quickerSMS delivery, enhanced data connection speeds,nationwide coverage and zero downtime, especiallyin times of disasters.

All these and more subscribers in Pampanga andBulacan now enjoy with the completion in these areasof the modernization project of the Philippine LongDistance Telephone Company and its wirelesssubsidiary, Smarts Communications.

Smart Public Affairs Department Manager Jose“Wo” Rosete said the project in the two provinces ispart of its nationwide plan that would cost P67.1billion. It is expected to benefit close to 50 millionSmart subscribers.

Rosete added that the network transformationprogram will “further enhance the reliability and qualityof its wireless services, including SMS, call and dataservices, and internet access to even the most remotebarrios.”

Now, that’s getting and keeping everyone — reallyevery one – in touch. In real time.

Whither thou goeth the competition now?

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Medical tourism,no reason to leave

the PhilippinesI MOTORED out into the spectacle of night bound for Clark Airport.The planet blacked out for fun and games. The dark ethereal fog ofeasy love in a city without regulations was piling onto the streets ofAngeles City. My passenger was agitated, snapping at his Bic; wewere tardy to catch the flight. I gassed it hard and veered northbumping onto a causeway of redundant potholes, street debrisand the flickering single bulb beacons of sari-sari stands.

Day or night, Perimeter Road never alters its familiar wretchedanarchy, yet somehow tonight everything looked foreign, out-of-focus; eerie. Like while in a sleepwalk, I’d awoken, not knowingwhere to step next. Suddenly, an oncoming car pierced the darkveil ahead, spraying out, head-on, a blinding salvo of light. Then, ina second attack, a serpentine line of headlights followed it in atime lapse of flickering and bursting silver light halos. My visionblurred dangerously and I swerved, as if all motor skills had goneto hell.

Like other members, he be-lieved that privatization will in-crease the value of Mimosashares which at the time ofGonzales rose to as high asP1.5 million per share. Today,according to Mamac, it is downto a low of P200,000.

What if only the Koreanshave the financial means to bailout Mimosa?

Pride takes the backseatthen, Mamac said. “So long asour rights as members are up-held.” So there.

Still, the Senator wants hisprobe. While at it, may we sug-gest that His Honor expands his

investigation to what we see asthe creeping Koreanization ofAngeles City.

While we have always wel-comed foreign investors, there issomething different with the Ko-reans. This is no racial preju-dice. But a great many localshave observed that there is littlebenefit from the Korean invasionhere.

Koreans patronize their own.They shop in Korean grocerystores, dine in Korean restau-rants, wine in Korean nightclubs,stay in Korean hotels, relax inKorean spas, buy Korean cars.Very soon, they could be import-ing Korean GROs too. It won’ttake long and we shall have a

Korean mafia here too.Ang maghahari-hari dito, ka-

hit na sa krimen pa, dapat Pili-pino. Ain’t we proud of ourselves?

SO THE Korean firm NTM JinHung failed to take over Mimo-sa. So did this prevent the pri-macy of the Koreans at thecourse over the locals?

As things go at Mimosa, theKoreans need not spend a soli-tary won to lord it over there. Allthat is needed are willing lack-eys, ably provided them by theCDC.

Shame.

SO IT WAS then. So it is now.Eternal shame.

Zona LibreFROM PAGE 4

Napag-uusapanlangNi Felix M. Garcia

Ninung masmatako at

masikan mangan?I BOSYUNG karas keng sobrang kapamyasnanTabalu nung ating mipante keng mulang;Bukud king tusu ne’t maki-kaswapangan,Tiktak ya katako at kasikan mangan.

Pangingilagan deng bisita i BosyungDing kakilala na a maki okasyun,Uling ken mung nasi nung ditak ka tinunMangudkud kang bangi, pamikakatagun.

Karas keng inuman… malaut yang lasingUling pagmulmul na ing sioktong ampon ‘gin’;Nung mamulutan ya, “laklak” ngara na pin,Lalu pa’t nung iti kalderetang kambing.

Misan, king metung a pusyun a pintan ku,Akasulu ke pung mengan iting loku,A nu’ mipaintagun keraklan king tahuEma la at paro, binye rang rigalu.

At kabang ta’na ke miagape mamanganKarap ding aliwang bisita mu naman,Apansinan ku ing kaku na ngan iatangIng keyang pisimen king lele kung pinggan.

“Ating buring sabyan” ngaku king sarili,“Ing anti kaniting kimut ning salbahi”;Makanyan man e ku na inatu itiUling menitindi ku karing karap mi.

Malagua’t salita…meyari keng menganIng anggang simi na kaku mibuntun ngan;Lalto king aku ing dakal dili pengan,Karing inapag dang ema ampon ulang.

Marine-rine ku’t maybug e mitikdoUli ning mitambak kaku’ing balat paro!Dapot ing dine yan kanaku milako‘Nyang damdaman ko’ ring misasabi babo.

Ngana ning dimdam kung sinabi ning metung:“Tiktak ya pin pala kasiba i Bosyung!Obat pati balat liklak ning simarun,Lipat ne pa pala katako ing durum!!!”

Nukarining angin?

KASEBYAN, yang tukil nung ala yang lamanMabyung ya’yti potang ing angin masikan;King bie na ning tau makanyan mu namanNung insanu’ing ala yang tiktak kayabang.

Anti na mo pin ning mayangin a buntukA milalu labul potang yang mibugnus,Deti, ila retang ausan dang paratutA maki-oxygen king mingatbang bagyus.

King angin ninu na mo’ waring mekakit?O sinabing ta’ne king gamat ayapis?Yan, atyu king taung babangka dusuldit,At king bulung dutung a keta papaid!

Inya nung maintun kang matahimik a bie,Mangubwan na ka mu karin king marangle;Waman ing angin ken masikan at paneMalinis naman at tutung madalise!

The ExpatViewpoint

William Sours

PAGE 7 PLEASE

I talked myself into settling down. These werenot alien spacecraft, but rather, merely friendlyopposing vehicles, their headlights gone predatoron failing vision. I jinked Top. Gun style to avoidthe worst of them and shielded my eyes. Shockedby the light, my sight cursed by over exposure, Isurrendered to the fireworks and slid the wheelsto curbside safety.

Once at the turnout, my passenger catapultedfrom the car. He yelled, “What are you doing, Itold you not to drive.”I defended the event, he wasnot persuaded. “You crazy son-of-a-bitch, yournight vision is gone; I told you last week, go seean eye doctor. You are going blind. Good thingyou’re on your way out of the Philippines tonight.You’ve got to get fixed by someone that knowswhat they are doing; that means the US.” Thusbegan my globe-trotting odyssey into the worldof Medical Tourism.

Four days later, I was in a California eye clinicseeking a solution to my risky eyesight. A Mondaymorning beehive, this clinic swarmed withpatients, but there was no honey for all the chaos.At least in the Philippines there would be theregular covey of beauties.

This crowd made no sense. Did they all sharemy appointment time? I studied the scene stillunder the gluey influence of jet lag. Usedmagazines littered the tables parked aside rowsof chairs filled back to back with patients crouchedin waiting. Here was a snapshot of the startingline for America’s newly socialized medicinefootrace: Freshly minted citizens with theirparents, fresh off the bus immigrants fromChihuahua, senior citizens mostly still in theirpajamas and, leading the charge, Baby Boomersthat had enjoyed way too many Big Macs. Thiswas the centrifuge of angst I had not wagered on.

What choice did I have? Amid the combativepatients, in the standing-room-only setting, Iwaited my turn, fighting every impulse to keepfrom bolting out the door. My blood pressuresoared ballistic. I was spun into near apoplexyfrom the combined effect of the paisley Naugahydecouches clashing sight-and-sound, in unison, withFox News on the big screen.

Fox News, true to form, blared out far right

political nonsense from the idiot box. What amessed-up network. One almost expects themto host talking head Borat Sagdiye to presentsome new imbecilic and scathing testimony onthe scoundrel liberals gone commie. I’m hardlyan Obama supporter, but Fox News’ anchorsmake even the most amateur of Filipino TVreporters, come off like the Harvard Law debateteam. So strange, so destructive to have Fox theself-appointed Republican-Conservative mediarepresentative of the US and A. Surly we aredoomed in November. Yes, as Borat sings in hisaccent Kazakhstani, “In my country there isproblem.”

My name was announced from the front deskwith all the delicacy of a prison yard serviceannouncement. I dragged myself from the comfortof my musings and marched briskly up to thefront. An elderly semi-truck of a woman attachedto her boomer son abruptly cut in front of me.They pulled out a kilo of laminated governmentmedical ID cards and dealt them out with aplomb,like C-notes. Here was the new currency in USmedicine. The receptionist asked if they wouldbe paying the deductible in cash or credit, anddid they have insurance cards on file? The short,white whale on her walker and her fat fingeredson, in symphony, replied with all the diplomacyof cornered badgers, “No deductible needed. Weknow our rights, my mother is covered by UncleSam.” More like by Uncle Joe Stalin I smirked tomyself.

It was time to take the offensive. As they say,“Evil prevails when good men fail to act.” I sawmy opening and seized it. I interrupted thereceptionist, “Mame you called my name first,and I do not know who these people think theyare, but I flew 16 hours from SE Asia and deservejust a little respect, Ok?” May I ask you to defendmy place in the queue here?” I turned around atthe scowling amphitheater of patients in the foyer.It was a weekday, yet there wasn’t a single oneof them dressed in work attire. I could hear Boratagain, “In my country there is problem.”

The waiting room housed a Gerry Springeraudience of look-alikes, one and all. My gazed

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REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINESREGIONAL TRIAL COURTTHIRD JUDICIAL REGION

BRANCH 42CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, PAMPANGA

JEREMY JIMENEZ BAZAR,Petitioner,

-versus- SP. PROC. CASE NO. 5485

OFFICE OF THE CIVIL REGISTRAR OF SANFERNANDO, PAMPANGA AND THE NATIONALCENSUS AND STATISTICS OFFICE,

Respondents.x———————————————————————————x

ORDERThe Petition is for the Correction of Entry in the Certificate of Live

Birth of Jeremy Jimenez Bazar registered in the Local Civil Registrar ofthe City of San Fernando, Pampanga, to effect this change;

Entry as to the SEX (GENDER) of the Petitioner from MALE TOFEMALE .

Attached to the Petition were photocopies of: 1) Certificate of LiveBirth of Jeremy Jimenez Bazar with Local Civil Registry No. 88-0284issued by Ms. Carmelita N. Ericta, Administrator and Civil RegistrarGeneral, National Statistics Office (Annex “A”); 2) DECS Form 138-EProgress Report Card (Annex “B” and “B-1”) 3) Affidavit of Discrepancyexecuted by the Jeremy Jimenez Bazar on June 11, 2008 (Annex “C”);and 4) Petitioner’s Passport and Identification Cards.

The Petition, raffled on February 20, 2012 was sufficient in form andsubstance and therefore, the Court hereby;

(a) sets the case for hearing on April 2, 2012 at 9:00 o’clock inthe morning;

(b) orders Petitioner (1) to serve within twenty four (24) hours fromreceipt of this Order copies of the Petition and its annexes to the Officeof the Solicitor General of the Philippines at 134 Amorsolo St.,Legaspi Village, Makati City, the Office of the Provincial Prosecutor,City of San Fernando, Pampanga,, the Local Civil Registrar, City ofSan Fernando, Pampanga, (2) to show proof of said service to thisCourt;

(c) orders al persons interested in the Petition; (1) to apper on saiddate and time before the Court-Regional Trial Court, Branch 42, City ofSan Fernando, Pampanga (2) to show cause, if any, why the Petitionshould not be granted;

(d) orders the Solicitor General to enter his appearance in this casefor the State within Twenty Four (24) hours from receipt of this Order;

(e) orders the Branch Clerk of Court to furnish copies of this Orderto the Petitioner, the counsel, the Solicitor General, the ProvincialProsecutor of Pampanga and the Local Civil Registrar, City of SanFernando, Pampanga.

(f) In addition, pursuant to OCA Circular No. (108-2010, “Guidelinesfor the Temporary Replacements of Clerks of Court in the Handling ofCase/s from which they are Disqualified under Section 1, Rule 137 ofthe Rules of Court, as amended”, in relation to A. M. No. 08-4-1-SC), thecounsel for the Petitioner, is hereby ordered to file on or before thepresentation of jurisdictional facts a written manifestation under oath, inwhich it is declared whether or not he or his client is related to the Clerkof Court of this Branch, stating therein the degree of relationship byaffinity or consanguinity.

Further, let the Petitioner at her expense, publish this Order for three(3) consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in theProvince of Pampanga. Likewise, the Petitioner is directed to pay theamount of Five Hundred (PhP500.00) Pesos to the Office of the Departmentof Justice, City of San Fernando, Pampanga, as appearance fee of thePublic Prosecutor and through whose office the Solicitor General shallbe represented in the proceeding, and to show proof to the Court of suchpayment made on or before April 2, 2012.

SO ORDERED.City of San Fernando, Pampanga, February 20, 2012.

MARIA AMIFAITH S. FIDER-REYES Judge

Copy furnished:Prosecutor Alexandro Lopez National Statistics OfficeOffice of the Provincial Prosecutor P.O. Box No. 779, Manila, PhilippinesCity of San Fernando, Pampanga

Jeremy Jimenez BazarThe Solicitor General Blk. 7, Lot 10, A. Luna Street, MaimpisOffice of the Solicitor General City of San Fenrnado, Pampanga134 Amorsolo St., Legaspi VillageMakati City Civil Registrar General

National Statistics OfficeOffice of the Clerk of Court NSO Building, East AvenueRegional Trial Court Quezon CityCity of San Fernando, Pampanga

The Local Civil Registrar of the City of San FernandoCity of San Fernando, Pampanga

PUNTO! Central Luzon: March 16, 23 & 28, 2012

osdado P. Macapagal Me-morial Hospital (DMMH) ishereby granted. According-ly, Memorandum No. 37dated June 28, 2008 andMemorandum No. 55 dat-ed September 22, 2008 is-sued by Eddie T. Panlilio,[former] governor, Provinceof Pampanga, reassigninghim to the Ricardo P. Rod-riguez Memorial Hospitaland subsequently recallinghim to report to the Provin-cial Health Office (PHO) atSan Fernando, Pampanga,respectively, is hereby Re-versed and Set Aside,”said the CA decisionsigned by Associate Jus-tices Jose Reyes, Priscil-

FROM PAGE 1

Panlilio’s petition denied vs. Poniola Padilla and Agnes Car-pio.

“Governor Panlilio isdirected to restore Ponioto his original station asProvincial Health Officer Iat Diosdado P. MacapagalMemorial Hospital,” itsaid.

PANLILIO’S ORDERSIn May 2008, then Gov-

ernor Panlilio issued amemorandum order tem-porarily assigning Dr. Ro-mulo Lacson as actingchief of the DMMH effec-tive June 3, 2008 and re-quested Ponio to report tothe PHO. Ponio appealedbefore the CSC and con-tested Panlilio’s order.

While the case was

pending before the CSC,Panlilio issued anotherMemorandum Order No.73 designating Ponio asacting chief of the RicardoP. Rodriguez MemorialHospital effective June 24,2008 to September 23,2008.

Ponio then filed beforethe CSC an urgent motionto issue restraining orderrelative to his re-assign-ment as contained inmemorandum 37.

Pending the resolutionof the urgent motion filedby Ponio, Panlilio issuedMemorandum No. 55 dat-ed September 22, 2008recalling Ponio and direct-ing him to report to thePHO as PHO-1 hospital

administrator.The CSC favored Ponio

in its subsequent deci-sions.

CIVIL SERVICE RULES

In the decision, the CAcited Section 10, Rule VIIof the Omnibus Civil Ser-vice Rules and Regula-tions. It stated that “a re-assignment is the move-ment of an employee fromone until to another in thesame department or agen-cy which does not involvea reduction in rank, statusor salaries and does notrequire the issuance of anappointment.”

“While concededly thelaw (specifically the Re-vised Administrative Code)

recognizes reassignmentas a management prerog-ative vested in any depart-ment or agency of govern-ment embraced in the civ-il service, it is howeversubject to certain rules,”the CA decision said.

“Thus, Section 6 (3) ofthe Revised Rules on Re-assignment under CivilService Commission Res-olution No. 04-1458 pro-vides: Reassignment ofemployees with station-specific place of work in-dicated in their respectiveappointments shall be al-lowed only for a maximumperiod of one (1) year,” itadded.

“An appointment is con-

sidered station-specificwhen the particular officeor station where the posi-tion is located is specifi-cally indicated on the faceof the appointment paper.Station-specific appoint-ment does not refer to aspecified plantilla itemnumber since it is used forpurposes of identifying theparticular position to befilled or occupied by theemployee,” it said.

“Indeed, an appoint-ment is considered sta-tion-specific when the par-ticular office or stationwhere the position is locat-ed is specifically indicat-ed on the face of the letterof appointment,” it said.

the President “not to relyon his current high popu-larity ratings.”

“Mr. Aquino could turnout to be just an overnightsensation. The oil pricehike problem compound-ing and exacerbating the

FROM PAGE 1

‘Fuel price hikes can reverse...’chronic crisis cannot beresolved by popularity rat-ing and puppetry to oil car-tel,” he said.

Oil companies led byPilipinas Shell PetroleumCorp. and Total Philippinesrecently hiked prices ofregular gasoline by 85centavos a liter, premium

gasoline by 60 centavos aliter, kerosene by 30 cen-tavos a liter, and of diesel,by 20 centavos a liter.

They were followed byPetron Corp. and ChevronPhilippines. Petron like-wise hiked the prices ofits cooking gas by P3 perkilogram or about P33 per

11-kg cylinder of liquefiedpetroleum gas (LPG).

Hicap accused Aquinoof “ignoring sound propos-als from different groupsdemanding an immediatehalt to oil price increases,the scrapping of oil dereg-ulation law and the nation-alization of oil industry.”

isita is under Oplan Baya-nihan, the counter-insur-gency program of the Aqui-no government.

“First, this is a clearadmission that HaciendaLuisita is militarized. Weshould not forget that theAFP’s commander-in-chief is Pres. Aquino, amember of the Cojuangco-Aquino clan. The presi-dent’s family is the antag-onist of the farmworkers’struggle for their rights toland,” said Joseph Canlas,AMGL chairperson.

AMGL and Ambalahave been demanding thepull out of the military fromthe hacienda even beforethe violent dispersal of the

FROM PAGE 1

‘Oplan Bayanihan’ proof of militarizationfarmworkers’ strike onNovember 16, 2004 whenseven farmers were killed.

Last Nov. 22, the Su-preme Court ordered thedistribution of the hacien-da to its farmworkers, butthe Hacienda Luisita Inc.,the firm controlled by Pres.Aquino’s family filed peti-tions that continued toblock the implementationof the verdict. The hacien-da had been in the handsof the President’s familysince 1947.

“The military should notintervene on the issue ofHacienda Luisita as it isclearly an agrarian issue,”Canlas said.

Canlas also said that“everybody should knowthat Oplan Bayanihan is a

counter-insurgency pro-gram targeting those theybrand as ‘insurgents,’ andtheir operation is clearlymilitary in nature, whetherthey clean up streets orany civil-military opera-tions.”

“Soldiers never left thehacienda. When we weremassacred, they still hadthe guts to show theirfaces. They wreaked hav-oc here, harassed leadersand members of Ambalaand United Luisita Work-ers’ Union,” said FelixNacpil, Jr., Ambala chair-person.

Nacpil noted the“bloody record” arisingfrom military presence inthe hacienda including thekilling of Central Azucarera

de Tarlac Labor Union(Catlu) and Barangay Ma-palacsiao Chairman RicRamos on October 25,2005 when the militaryencamped at his baran-gay.

Ambala said that per-sons identified with thePresident’s family “arecoercing barangay chair-persons to sign an affida-vit supporting military de-ployment in their areas.”The barangay heads nev-er consulted their constit-uents, the group added.

“The only exceptionwas the chairman ofBarangay Balete who isa known supporter of theCojuangco-Aquino clan,”Ambala said.

–Ding Cervantes

bagong CT Scan machineang BMC, isang MRI ma-chine para higit namakatugon ito sa mgapangangailangan ng mgaBulakenyong pasyente.

“I am surprised. I amimpressed. I am flabber-gasted,” sabi ni Ona mata-pos pasinayaan angdagdag na pasilidad ngBMC

Kabilang dito ang bagoat mas malawak na emer-gency room, out-patientdepartment complex atang dagdag na gusali parasa maternity ward.

Ang pagpapasinaya aysinaksihan ng mga opisy-al ng mga pamahalaanglokal, mga doctor ng ibat-ibang bayan, at pinan-gunahan nina Ona,Gob. Wilhelmino Alvarado,at Obispo Jose Oliveros nanagbasbas sa mga pasil-idad.

Ayon kay Ona, hindi

FROM PAGE 1

Dagdag na pasilidad ng BMC...imposibleng umangat salevel 3 at level 4 ang kate-gorya ng BMC sa mgadarating na panahon.

Ito ay dahil sa patuloyna renobasyon atpagdadagdag ng mga pa-silidad nito sa pangungu-na ni Alvarado.

Sinabi niya na haloskasing ganda na ito ngEast Avenu Medical Cen-ter sa Lungsod ng Que-zon.

Para naman kay Alva-rado, nais pa nilang higitna paunlarin ang serbisyong BMC sa pamamagitanng pagdagdag ng mga ka-gamitan katulad ng CTScan, MRI, X-Ray, Mam-mogram machine at ibapa.

Matatandaan na saunang taon ng panu-nungkulan ni Alvarado aypinasinayaan niya ang di-alysis center ng BMC.

Hindi nagtagal ay pi-nasimulan nila ang opera-syon ng oncology center

kung saan ay nilalapatanng lunas ang mga maysakit na kanser.

Ayon kay Alvarado,pangarap din niya na ma-paunlad ang oncology unitng BMC at maging cancercenter ito.

Bukod sa mga dagdagna pasilidad, pinalawak dinni Alvarado ang serbisyong BMC at iba pang paga-mutang pampubliko sa la-lawigan.

Kabilang dito ang pag-bibigay ng libreng gamot,konsultasyon, at pagpapa-gamot sa mga nagkasak-it ng dengue.

Patuloy din ang pag-bibigay ng libreng bakunang BMC para sa mga na-kagat ng aso at iba panghayop tulad ng pusa up-ang malabanan ang kasong rabies.

Iniulat din ni Alvaradona nasimulan na ang kon-struksyon ng mga dagdagna district hospital sa Plar-idel, Pandi, Angat, Norza-

garay, Obando.Pinag-aaralan na rin

nila ang pagtatayo ng Dis-trict Hospital sa Marilao atMeycauayan.

“We have equitably dis-tribute social and healthservices sa mga Bulak-enyo,” ani ng gobernador.

Binigyang diin niya nasa mga nagdaang taon ayparang nabuhos ang pag-papala ng Diyos sa unangditrito ng lalawigan dahilhalos apat na district hos-pitals ang matatagpuan samga bayang nasasakopnito.

Ito ay ang Emilio G.Perez Memorial DistrictHospital sa Hagonoy,Calumpit District, Hospital,Gregorio Del Pilar DistrictHospital sa bayan ng Bu-lacan; at ang F.T.ReyesHospital sa islang baran-gay ng Pamarawan saMalolos na nagsisilbingpagamutan ng mga resi-dente sa baybaying dagatng Bulacan.

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TheGossip-millerby Cesar Pambid

Jodi Sta. Maria binalikan ni Jolo Revilla!HOW TRUE na maligaya ngayon sa piling ng isa’t isa sina Jodi Sta. Maria at Jolo Revilla. Ayonkasi sa isang source, Jodi is now the special girl of Jolo Revilla. This means silang dalawana at wala nang makapipigil pa sa kanilang romansa.

Nagkasama ang dalawa noon sa isang project and both were smitten by eachother. Kaya nga lang, may malaking problema noon sa kanyang domesticlife si Jodi na hindi pa naaayos ang noon ay gulo naman sa ex-husbandniyang si Panfy Kacson. But as soon as it was over, ayun, balikromansa na ang ang dalawa sa kasalukuyan.

Not one between the two, we are pretty sure, is ready toadmit the rerlationship. Tiyak, pag tinanong silang dalawa,magdi-dilly-dally sila at mag-aargumnetong magkaibigan langsila.

Pero sumusumpa nga ang aming source na yung versionniya ang paniwalaan dahil nga ito raw ang katotohanan.

Ito pala ang naging dahilan kung bakit nawala sa eksena siKris Bernal na natagpuan na sanang pamalit sa kabiguan kay JayPerillo si Jolo Revilla.

Sa panig naman ng mga magulang ni Jolo na sina Senator Bong atCongresswoman Lani, wala raw silang paki. Kung saan daw maligayaang anak nila, dun na sila.

So there!

Angel Locsin nasaktan nang todo sa di magandang opinionsa dyowang si Phil Younghusband

NAG-TRENDING sa Twitter si Arnold Clavio (number 2) kahapon dahil sa comment niya sa Unang Hirit tungkol saharassment case ng Azkals.

May sumang-ayon sa opinion ni Arnold, may nagalit at may nag-akusang racist ang pahayag.Sabi ni Arnold: “Sana nag-sorry, sorry na lang talaga, ’di ba… na ’di ko kayo ka-kultura, kaya wala dito (itinuro ang dibdib

at ulo) ’di naman kayo Pilipino, nagpapanggap lang kayong kayumanggi hindi kayo dito lumaki. Mahirap ’yan.”Galit ang fans ng Azkals kay Arnold at pati ilang artistang friends ng Azkals team ay nag-react sa Twitter.Maging si Angel Locsin, rumored GF ng Azkals player na si Phil Younghusband, nag-tweet ng: “I think arnold clavio’s a good

person. But this time, sobrang foul lang. “That’s his opinion. This is mine. Madali lang sumira ng reputasyon, mahirap ibalik.Konting sensitivity lang sana.”

May isa pang Twitter user na sinagot ni Angel ng: “hindi naman po isang tao lang ang azkals. At hindi naman po yungissue yung pagiging Pinoy nila. Unfair po yun.”

Hintayin natin today ang reaction ni Arnold sa UH at kung totoong nag-sorry siya sa Azkals sa kanyang pinahayagkahapon.

As of this writing nag-sorry na si Arnold and has fully realized na padalus-dalos ang kanyang opinion.

Jose Manalo sinisiraan lang ng ABS-CBN?VERY LOGICAL nga naming at this point, tila nga demolition job yung pagtira sa relasyon ni Jose Manalo sakanyang pamilya. Oo nga naman, kung sisiraan ang personal si Jose, tatalbog yun sa Eat Bulaga, and thatwill be a major point against the noontime show.Undeniably, the recent concert of wacky duo Jose and Wallytheir first time at the Big Dome, was a huge success. Imagine, its producers even had to print more ticketsthan the usual to give more fans the chance to watch it.

It is also recorded as the longest show at Araneta that Bossing Vic Sotto even suggested to cancel twonumbers to shorten it.

In short, the Big Dome was filled to the rafters. Jose and Wally, and their guests apparently prepared wellfor their numbers. Although some say that what they saw were just bigger in scopes of what they see on ‘EatBulaga,’ still they enjoyed the show and went home without the feeling that they were short changed.

The bottomline here is that the success of the show was the product of Eat Bulaga’s popularity. Jose andWally’s talents are honed by their appearances on the show, and the massive promotions it provided workedwell.

Suddenly, Jose is faced with a controversy with his wife, Annalyn, and while they say it is a private matterbetween husband and wife, some analysts say that it’s actually a part of testing the strength of “Eat Bulaga.”Well, it may be the price of what one pays for success, but it looks like Eat Bulaga’s adversaries may have todo better than that.

Pakisagot nga, ABS-CBN! Angel Locsin

swept them like a gunturret taking in a mob ofinsurgents and I spokejust loud enough to startlethe first three rows ofpatients, “Oh, and by theway Miss, I am payingcash today. I assume youoffer a cash discount?”Standing in the inner doorsto the exam room’s foyerwas a Nurse Crotchetclone, motioning me withthe carrier landing paddlesto come hither before a riotensued.

My return visits to theclinic over the next week,confirmed a few of things“square”. One, specialtyhealth care in the UnitedStates was over; down thetubes, finis. Two, I had afatty cataract that was ren-dering me blind; and final-ly, three, no matter howminor my reason to returnwas, they were going totag me for another $150.

On my final visit, thestaff pow-wowed and de-termined that they couldschedule me, but in nosooner than three weeks.Protesting, I demanded anaudience with the head

The Expat ViewpointFROM PAGE 5 surgeon, looking to pry

open an early surgery forcash. Of course, theymade me return and thenwaded me through anoth-er battery of tests, addingan additional $150 US, allto get more bad news. Thelead surgeon was retiringnext month. It would be awaste of time to meet withhim.

I forced an appointmentwith him anyway; maybehe could get me in withanother surgeon. When Iexplained my Expat sta-tus, he got candid and di-rect with me, “just get itdone overseas, there’snothing special about theUS.” This surprised me,but then, what did he care?After all, he was leavingmedicine. Odd, he lookedtoo young for retirement,yet he was bailing out allthe same.

Maybe, in retrospect,this was too understand-able. At this clinic, as withso many in the US, doc-tors have to deal with themasses, regardless oftheir ability to pay; in spiteof whether they receiverespect or not. Like manyof our very best physi-

cians, beat down fromMedicare and Medicaid,gloomy over the demise ofthe US medicine with therising star of Obamacare,early retirement was anincreasingly popularmove. With nothing tolose, he explained thatthere were scores of com-petent surgeons abroadfor less money. Finally, hecautioned me that havingeye surgery done in the USmight be dodgy on mypocketbook for other rea-sons.

Deducing from mycash-for-early-surgery ap-peal that I was not on thewelfare or the employerinsurance dole, he warnedthat if I had post-op com-plications, the briefeststay in the hospital couldrun me twenty grand ormore. On the other hand,he added, “You could al-ways stiff the hospital anddash. After all, everyoneelse does.” Since grabbinga ticket and taking theunderground railway backto Mexico or Asia was notan option for me, ethicallyor otherwise, I needed tomake a decision post-haste.

I did the calculation.The brain and dollar dam-age summed up readily. Itwas time to pull the plugon the US surgery option.Twenty grand cash was alot of dough for a few nightsstay in a hospital and apotential dose of MRSA.MRSA is the little talkedabout flesh eating epidem-ic of staph infection syn-drome that plagues over50,000 hospital patients ayear in the US. Besides, Iwas scheduled to fly outthe next day for my homein the Philippines which Imissed dearly.

That night, between theharried intervals of pack-ing for my return to thePhilippines, and checkingflights details online, I ini-tiated the inevitable Goo-gle query. I needed a cat-aract specialist pronto orto see about that K-9 ser-vice dog. I was thinkingHong Kong or Singaporeor Shanghai. “Mirror-mirroron the wall, where do thenew millionaire elite seekout gurus for their luxuryvision fix?”

When I Goggled cata-ract surgery and Asia andlaser, misspelling laser,

Google fired back, with thelink, “Did you mean lasercataract surgery and Ma-nila?” I could barely believemy fuzzy eyes. I had beenreading about the very re-cent technological revolu-tion in laser eye surgerythat was taking place inAustralia and a few otherselect locations with theAlcon LensCataract Laser.Here I was, haphazardlygoing full nerd, peelingback the onion off Googlelinks and alas, I discoverthat the Philippines is theonly place in Asia with thenewest cataract laser. Thefirst or second link in thehierarchy led to the “Amer-ican Eye Clinic” in Makati.No pun intended, thingswere coming into focus.

I drilled down a coupleof levels deeper to discov-er pure gold. The de-scribed Shogun of Filipinoeye surgeons, a DoctorCaesar Ramon Espirirtu,was now spearheading theuse of the new cataractlaser in Asia. I read hismany glowing citations,now coming at me in mul-tiple shelves of links. Hewas the number onechoice of major Filipino

celebrities, people thatcould go anywhere in theworld for surgery. Finally,the clincher appeared. Ifound his name on thespeaker roster of an oph-thalmology website for aworldwide convention inAbu Dubai. Dr. Espirituwas a VIP at what ap-peared to be the equiva-lent of the Paris Air Showfor the Ophthalmologyelite.

The following day onmy layover with Seair inSingapore, I met with ahighly respected cataractsurgeon at one of thelargest clinics in Asia. Heconfirmed all the positivemedia stats and medicalbackground information Ihad gleaned about Dr. Es-piritu. He said, “Yeah, Dr.Espiritu is the guy and heis right in your back yard.”As I filled out the immi-gration stub for Clark, Iscribbled and smiled likea cat with a stolen fish.For the first time I wasable to check a differentbox than “pleasure” as myreason for travel. I wrotein block letters, “MedicalTourism.”

(To be continued)

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MORE THAN 200 womenemployees of the provin-cial capitol, Philippine Na-tional Police (PNP), daycare centers, municipalsocial welfare and develop-ment offices, and otherworkers concerned withthe promotion and protec-tion of women’s welfareattended the symposiumon the Magna Carta ofwomen on Wednesday.

It also tackled disasterrisk reduction and climatechange adaptation.

Provincial Board Mem-ber Trina Dizon said theone-day event is one of thehighlights of the on-goingcelebration of women’smonth in the provincedubbed as “WomenWeathering ClimateChange: Governance andAccountability, Everyone’sResponsibility”.

Sponsored by the pro-vincial government throughthe Provincial Social Wel-fare and Development Of-fice (PSWDO), Dizon saidthe symposium aims toempower the participantsby providing them with ad-equate knowledge on theirlegal rights.

As chair of the Sang-guniang Panlalawigan(SP) committee on wom-en, family and children,

Dizon said that one of thepriorities of the provincialgovernment is to supportthe enactment of an ordi-nance concerning wom-en’s benefits, privilegesand development.

She said that Pinedaand the SP are very sup-portive of activities gearedtowards the developmentand empowerment of wom-en.

Dr. Corazon Aguilar-David, resource person ofthe symposium, stressedthat as workers for chil-dren and women, it is im-perative that the partici-pants be knowledgeableon their legal rights so thatthey could effectively ad-dress the issues whichconfront them.

“Slur, wanton displayof disrespect, multiple bur-den, legal discrimination,stereotyping and eco-nomic dependence aresome of the major issuesconfronting women,” shesaid.

David said these is-sues are addressed by thenew laws stipulated in theMagna Carta of Womenwhich includes among oth-ers the rights to decide onbirth spacing, equal own-ership opportunity, specialleave for women, security

of tenure and representa-tion rights.

Other rights of womenincluded in special lawsare the rights to marry,work or practice one’s pro-fession, inherit, againstlegal discrimination, livetogether as husband andwife, seek judicial relief,possess remains of deadspouse, exemption fromcriminal liability on crimesagainst property commit-ted against the spouse,against cruel and unjustpunishment and againstall forms of verbal, physi-cal, psychological, socialand economic violence.

David advised the par-ticipants to report all formsof violence and abusecommitted against womento the proper authorities asshe stressed that “no onehas the right to abuseyou”.

Discussions on the roleof women in proper wastemanagement, disasterrisk reduction and effectsof climate change werealso conducted by techni-cal representatives fromthe Environment and Nat-ural Resources Office andProvincial Risk Reductionand Management Office.

– Erlinda T. Yutuc,Pampanga PIO

Capitol holdssymposium onwomen’s rights

BY DING CERVANTES

CLARK FREEPORT –Early signs of unprece-dented tourism boom hasbeen noted here amid a 38percent increase in inter-national passenger volumein the first two months ofthis year at the Clark In-ternational Airport (CIA)here.

Clark International Air-port Corporation (CIAC)president and CEO VictorJose Luciano describedthe increase as “signifi-cant”, that such rate wouldlead to unparalleled pas-senger volume since theairport was establishedhere in 1994.

Luciano reported thatinternational passengervolume at the CIA rose to160,847 last January andFebruary, a 38-percent in-crease over the 116,125passengers in the samemonths last year.

“The growth in passen-ger volume has resulted inthe growth of gross reve-nue earnings for the CIACas well, increasing collec-tions in January toP37.336 million or an in-crease of 24 percent overJanuary 2011 collectionsof P29.9 million,” Lucianonoted. Revenues generat-ed in February were notimmediately available.

Luciano also noted a46 percent increase in in-

come from passenger ter-minal fees amounting toP6.167 million so far thisyear.

The collection of grossrevenues covers fees forlanding and take-off, car-go and passenger flights,general aviation, passen-ger and security.

Revenues generated bynon-aero activities, mean-while, include fees for rent,business operations, park-ing, check-in, ground han-dling and miscellaneous,among other fees.

Luciano also revealedthat the domestic passen-ger volume is also expect-ed to increase in 2012with the slated operationsof four domestic flights byAirphil Express on March29 to Cebu, Puerto Princ-esa, Davao and Kalibo.

He said AirAsia Philip-pines, a subsidiary of Ma-laysia’s Air Asia Berhad,will also launch domesticflights from its hub at theClark airport to Davao andKalibo on March 28 alongwith the slated May launch-ing of domestic flights bySouth East Asian Airlines(Seair) to Kalibo as well asinternational flights fromClark to Kota Kinabalu,Malaysia and daily flightsto Bangkok.

“CIAC is targeting toservice close to one mil-lion passengers before theend of 2012,” he said.

38% increase in passengervolume noted at Clark airport